As a we begin a new year, we have the opportunity to reflect on the past year and make appropriate changes in our lives to become better individuals, stronger families, and better friends.
2012 was a great year. Although the first 7 months of the year Steve was not home due to his commitment to serve the country and being stationed in Afghanistan, we were able to grow closer together and appreciate one another more than we could have ever done had we not been apart for so long.
The month of January was fantastic. My mom cam out for the whole month to help me with the kids while I worked at a counseling office for my internship which allowed me to finish my Bachelors degree. After many years of putting my education on hold, I decided to go back to school and was able to finish my degree in a few short years.
In April Steve took his long awaited R&R. A whole two weeks home (well... if you can call it that). We had so many activities packed into those two weeks, I am sure it did not feel like a vacation to him. The first 5 days, we took the kids on a cruise to the Bahamas. What a great experience that was.
We then had that weekend to hang out with great friends before his sister, brother in law and niece came out for the week to play 'parents' while Steve and I went on a trip to the Dominican Republic. I have to say, that week was amazing! A much needed break on a beautiful tropical island with no care in the world (other than the fact that Steve was leaving in a few short days for the last 3 months of his deployment). Upon returning home from a lovely vacation, we had a fantastic farewell dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Steve was so surprised to see that all of our friends came out to see him off once again. To top of a perfect evening, his mom flew in for the night and he could not have been more shocked.
Once Steve left, we were at it again, busy as ever. In mid-May, we packed up our house and shipped all of our belongings to Spain. We were living the gypsy life for a few months and loved it. We first stayed a few weeks at our friends in Florida (just long enough to let the kids finish school) and then headed to my brother and sister-in-laws in California. We then headed to my parents house for a month and then back down south for the first ever Hansen Family reunion. My parents we able to plan a week vacation around the time Steve was going to arrive home and it worked out perfectly. The kids and I were able to spend the first part of the week at the beach house with my whole family before heading the San Diego to pick up Steve. We stayed in San Diego for a few weeks; the perfect amount of time to meet up with Steve's uncle Joe and aunt Debbie and with old friends, the Jenkins and Lehmann families. At the end of July, we packed up once again and boarded the long flight to Jerez, Spain.
We arrived to Spain July 25th and quickly began the hunt for a place to live. Within one week, we were moving into the dream Spanish home and settling into our new routine of Spanish life. We were so blessed to find this house and have the landlords we have. They are the most wonderful people full of love and happiness. They have gone out of their way to make us feel comfortable in a new country, help us buy a car, enroll the kids into a fantastic school in town, sign Aydin up for soccer on the local team, and answer any and all questions we had about the area and way of doing things around here as well as try to help us learn the language.
The past 5 months have come and gone (way to quick) and here we are celebrating a new year with new horizons.
We have all talked about our personal goals and what we would like to accomplish as a family and my list is longer than usual.
As a family, we would like to be fluent in Spanish by the end of this year- all of us (I think they will all have me beat).
The kids would like to be nicer to one another and not fight (we will see how long this will last), Aydin would like to eat better and try to stay away from processed foods and learn how to play the drums, Morgan would like to learn piano (both kids cannot get instruments until their Spanish is better- one rule I made once we got to Spain) and begin riding the horse outside of the arena.
For me personally, I feel there is so much I would like to improve this year about myself. I would like to improve personally, educationally, and spiritually. It would be easier for me to simply say I want to improve in all areas of my life.
We have been so blessed throughout the past year are so grateful for the life we are able to live. We are very excited to see what 2013 has to bring (that list is long as well)! Hope you all have a wonderful new year! Happy 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment